The days of guaranteed retirement benefit in the form of a pension are long gone. As numbers out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics show – defined benefit retirement pension are on a drastic decline since 1981. That was the year when over 80% of full-time workers in the private sector participated in a pension plan. By 1997, that number had plummeted to just over 50%. And by 2011, looking at all workers in all private businesses in America, fewer than 20% of workers have some sort of pension retirement plan.
This translates into economic insecurity for seniors – especially now that Republicans in the House are trying to turn Social Security and Medicare over to private sector profiteers. This also adds to the growing list of things that Corporate America is taking from their workers, in its quest for higher and higher profits.
In recent months – we’ve seen employers promise to reduce hours to avoid providing health insurance, we’ve seen the right to free political speech taken away, guaranteed vacation time and maternity leave don’t exist – workplace safety laws are getting watered down – heck, they’ve even taken our money by flattening our wages during a time of increased productivity. In some states, they even want to take away our bathroom breaks!
This is nothing short of theft. And pretty soon, we’ll be handing over the shirts on our backs, just so that our bosses can squeeze whatever profits they can out of them.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
